Nibble News

Please vaccinate your pet rabbits!

(March 16, 2014)

We would like to urge all bunny owners to please ensure that their bunny’s annual vaccinations are kept up to date. We have received the following upsetting message from a follower who would like to share her story in the hope of helping other rabbits.

“ I took my 7yr old Freddie to the vets Thursday afternoon as he had woken up with sticky eyes, the vet said he had conjunctivitis as he had no other signs or symptoms, he was still eating and drinking and behaving normally, he was prescribed eye drops and anti inflammatory medicine, unfortunately Freddie took a turn for the worse and didn't make it to the emergency vet before we lost him fri evening. The vet was wrong and I am heartbroken but want everyone who loves their bunnies to watch them very closely and know how quickly something that seems easy to treat suddenly turns fatal.”

The lady’s bunny had mxyomatosis and his life could have been saved if he had been vaccinated against the disease.

Thank you to the Rabbit Welfare Association for the following advice and poster below: “Please ensure your rabbits’ vaccinations are up to date. The winter being as mild as it was, biting insects were not killed off and we are receiving notifications of outbreaks of Myxomatosis, which is carried by them from infected wild rabbits to domestic rabbits. The latest notification was in the area of Didcot in Oxfordshire. Rabbits need to be vaccinated annually with the combined Myxomatosis/RVHD vaccine. It’s particularly important that your rabbits have a good vaccination history to help protect them against any new strains of disease that may not be so easily protected against in younger rabbits who haven’t been vaccinated regularly. Try not to leave any time when your rabbits aren’t covered by vaccination. Better to have vaccinations a few weeks early rather than leave them till they are overdue before re-vaccinating”.